A tragic accident took place during a driving lesson in a church’s parking lot in Chicago on Saturday, May 6th, resulting in a 61-year-old woman’s death.
The woman was teaching a man of the same age to drive a Toyota minivan when the man accidentally pressed the gas pedal instead of the brake while the vehicle was in reverse.
The Chicago police reported that the woman was dragged underneath the minivan during the incident, which occurred around 7:15 pm. Responding officers rushed her to St. Francis Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
Another individual was sitting in the van’s back seat with the door open and was ejected from the vehicle during the accident. They were also transported to St. Francis Hospital and are said to be in good condition with non-life-threatening injuries.
The Chicago Police Department cited the 61-year-old man for operating a vehicle without a license, but no charges have been filed against him.
Several notable accidents have occurred during driving lessons across the United States. In October 2016, a head-on crash in Canton, Ohio, injured both a student driver and their instructor after the student veered across the center line. In July 2017, a 15-year-old student in Washington state lost control of the vehicle during a driving lesson and crashed into a building, injuring the student, instructor, and an individual inside the building. A fatal incident took place in Philadelphia in August 2020 when a 16-year-old student driver collided with another car, resulting in the death of the other driver, while the student and instructor sustained minor injuries.
